Do You Need A Doctor
by StangeInterests32
Summary: While watching Zoom's metahuman army overrunning Central City, Iris gets an unexpected phone call from an even more unexpected person who's decided that she wants to help in this near catastrophic situation. Takes place during the season 2 episode, "Invincible".
1. Chapter 1

Iris West was watching the battle between the CCPD and Zoom's metahuman army on the monitors inside Star Labs, and the sights from the news coverage were terrifying her. The police were putting up a solid fight, bringing to bear all the courage they could muster, but it was clear that they were outmatched and outgunned. She could see officers ducking to avoid being assaulted from above by two winged metahumans or the small cadre of other flying metas. And even if the flying metahumans hadn't been there, there was still the fire power being exhibited by the ones on the ground. Some had super strength, others some manner of projectile power, and others some combination. As she watched officers diving for cover, or firing their guns when a quick enough lull happened, and worse still, others screaming from being hit or being too close to something that had exploded, there was no other way to put it.

The Central City Police Department was plain and simply losing.

"Come on Barry," she muttered under her breath as she watched, her heart beginning to race the more she thought about her father being in all that fray. "Guys, where's Barry? Why hasn't he gotten to the downtown area yet?"

"Because he's still in the north side of town putting out a fire at…," Cisco answered, trailing off as he checked the map on one of the other monitors, "At a hospital."

"Chemical plant now," Caitlin corrected. "He finished with the hospital a few seconds ago."

"Well he needs to hurry it up because I don't know how much longer the police can hold their own," she said.

"He's working as fast as he can, but Zoom brought some pretty powerful people through," Caitlin said.

"Yeah, he definitely went for quality over quantity," Cisco added.

Iris just shook her head and fiddled with the necklace around her neck. She watched for a few more minutes, starting to zone out what was happening in the lab when suddenly she heard her phone ring. She considered just letting it go to voicemail, but decided that whoever it was, it was probably urgent. Tonight's situation didn't seem like it would cause someone to reach just to say hello for no real reason.

She grabbed her phone from console and looked at the screen, her face showing immediate bewilderment. "Linda?" she asked after answering.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Iris processed the question, not sure she'd heard correctly.

"Help?" she asked looking for clarification.

"With what's happening?"

"H-how could you…," she started, stopping mid-sentence for fear of the rest of the question coming out wrong and making her sound kind of bitchy.

On her end, Linda didn't really care about the tone of Iris's voice, she just went full steam ahead. "I was thinking that maybe…if you guys needed the help, I could offer to suit up as Doctor Light."

Iris let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding and then let a small smile of appreciation crease her lips. Leave it to this girl to think of that, she thought as she stayed quiet on the phone. And as much as she did appreciate the offer, she knew that she couldn't let that happen.

"Sweetie, no."

"Iris, have you seen what's going on out there?" Linda implored.

"Yes, I'm watching right now, and that's why I can't let you go out there. Barry and my Dad are already out there, and it's got me so worried I feel like I might have a heart attack."

"All the more reason I could help. I remember how to use the gloves, and the helmet took a shot from a bullet without even denting. I figure…"

"Linda, no," Iris almost shout, grabbing the attention of Caitlin and Cisco. "Linda; Barry and my Dad have experience and training, and they're still struggling. And you, and I don't mean this to be mean, because I understand that you want to help, and I think it's great, but you haven't used the gloves since the night Zoom kidnapped you, and even then, you weren't exactly an expert."

"I just feel like…like now that I know that what's going on, I should be helping more."

"Then stay home," Iris said gently. "Stay home, where you're safe, because even if I did let you go out there, all that would happen is that _Barry_ would start worrying, and with this kind of army to go up against, he needs his head clear." The line was silent and Iris started wondering if Linda had just left. "Linda?"

Iris heard a heavy sigh on the other end. "Fine, but if things get worse, metahuman army or not, I am finding some way to get down there and we are suiting me up."

"Whatever you say," Iris said, hoping that Linda could tell from her voice that she wasn't going to let that happen. Without saying good-bye, Iris heard her phone alert her that Linda had hung up.

"Did Linda really want to –" Caitlin began, then got cutoff by Iris.

"Yup."

"Maybe if she was better trained, like tenth degree black belt in meta-fu," Cisco said, getting a small chuckle out of both girls, the first time they'd done that all night.

Seconds later they heard an explosion on the monitors and when they turned to watch, they saw a police cruiser being turned into a fireball. Oh my God, Dad, Iris thought. As she watched another cruiser trying to make its way out, only to be surrounded by pissed off Earth-2 metas, she felt herself begin tear up. Then, like a yellow-streaked angel, Barry arrived on screen, and the metas immediately started disappearing from it.

"Oh thank God," she gasped as she watched the battle come to an end, for the moment, though even she knew the night was far from done.

Thanks for the offer Linda, but Barry seems to be doing just fine, she hoped, doing her best to convince herself that Linda really was safer wherever she was, and not out there trying to be Doctor Light.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Yes, I know that Atomic Skull is typically a Superman villain, but if you closely when Zoom was addressing his army, there was a guy there with a green glowing head and hands. I'm taking a little bit of a leap, but I'm working off the premise that maybe that was Atomic Skull. That being said, please enjoy.

* * *

Zoom's metahuman army had scattered from the fight with the Central City Police Department after The Flash had shown up. Most were running around, doing as they were told, causing chaos and terrorizing anyone they came across. Right now, Joseph Martin, better known by the name he'd been given on Earth-2, the Atomic Skull, was working his way through the southern part of the city. He'd already set fire to a few buildings, mostly storefronts, a doctor's office, and now he was coming up to apartment buildings. At least he assumed that these passed for apartments.

He knew that he was in a bad neighborhood, but he didn't care, it wasn't like the people around here could do anything to stop him. He could hear people moving in alleys and between buildings, doing their best to avoid his carnage. He tried not to think too hard about how little that actually meant to him so he wouldn't break out laughing in hysterics, but every now and then a chuckle escaped.

He was walking in front of a small hair salon when he spotted a woman walking up the street all alone. At least he assumed it was a woman since he couldn't see her face because she was walking away from him, though even if she was facing him, the white hoodie she had on under her leather jacket would be covering her face. But the high heeled boots she had on kind of made the confirmation for him. While anyone else might have been running, she had a steady, almost unconcerned manner to her step. Then again, she was probably trying not to look out of place. Then again, if she's walking alone at night while we're destroying the place, he thought, she must be a special kind of stupid. He practically growled at the sight of her walking, realizing that maybe he'd get to have some real fun tonight.

"Hey pretty lady, whatcha doin' out here all by your lonesome?" he called to the woman who kept walking without looking up. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" He began moving toward her, closing the distance quickly as she remained unhurried.

As he closed in, he called out again, and again received no response. Finally, in a fit of impatient rage, he added extra heat as he pumped himself up. The green flames around his skull went from a pulsing hum into a roaring inferno. He channeled the flames into his hands and let loose with a fireball in her direction. It travelled just passed her head, close enough to get her attention and singe her hoodie. She stopped and turned her head toward him, though he still couldn't make her out.

"Got your attention now don't I, sweetheart?"

Without acknowledging, she turned forward again and began walking again.

"Stupid, bitch," Atomic Skull muttered and took off after her. Despite the noise he made while getting closer, the women never sped up, slowed down, or broke stride. He threw another fireball at her and this time she stopped. He took the opportunity to get right up next to her and finally loomed over her, nearly a full head taller. "So what, you think I ain't gonna hurt you?" Atomic Skull shouted, the flames from his head casting a foreboding green glow to the area surrounding them.

"You wouldn't hurt a lady would you, Joe?" the woman asked before turning around.

When she was finally facing him, she lifted her head up to look at the taller metahuman. As he leaned in, Atomic Skull almost laughed again at the sight in front of him. "Hey, Doc," he smiled as he gazed down at Linda Park, Doctor Light herself. Linda watched as the flames on his head and hands began to recede, leaving Joseph Martin's skull almost unhampered for her to look at. Love the hair," he remarked on her longer, redder hair.

"Girl's gotta change her look every now and then. Keeps things interesting."

"Rumor had it that you were dead."

"Not dead, just off Zoom's radar," she responded. "And I'd like to stay that way."

Joseph laughed, not a full laugh, but a condescending chuckle that told the former Earth-2 resident that secrecy might not be on the menu.

"You know Zoom'll find out you're still here eventually," he told her.

"Later though, rather than sooner, unless you tell him."

If it was possible for him to do so without lips, Doctor Light could've sworn he was smiling. "Zoom was all kinds of pissed when you failed to kill The Flash."

"I wasn't the only one who failed."

"You were the only one who tried to run before doing it, though. Flash tried to bait Zoom because of it. _You_ are not one of his favorite people because of it," Atomic Skull said, almost laughing. "And you know he doesn't forgive...or forget."

"Zoom's not gonna get the chance to come after me," she said, a small smile creasing her lips.

"And how do you figure that?"

"Cause the Flash is gonna kick his ass first." This time her smile was wasn't small and it wasn't trying to be hidden.

Atomic Skull was almost impressed. The Doctor Light he knew, she was tough, but she was also a coward; more likely to run from a fight if it looked like it would save her own hide. And she certainly never put faith in someone else to save her. So this idea of hers, that the Flash would somehow stop Zoom, it would be admirable if it wasn't so childish.

"This is Zoom's city now. And he's letting us have it. And I'm sure he'll be pleased as hell when I put you at his feet."

Doctor Light took in a deep breath. She knew this might night happen. Once she saw that Zoom had reappeared and that he had brought friends with him, she knew she should've stay inside and away from the eyes of anyone who might recognize her. But she hadn't eaten in two days.

Just my luck, she thought, caught because I'm out of groceries and that little old lady next door is in the damn hospital and can't make me a damn meal. But once again, as proof that her luck wasn't always the best, the damn market at the end of the block was closed thanks to the carnage Atomic Skull and his buddies were causing, so she was forced to head home empty handed, making her run into this clown.

"Come on, Joe," she purrs, trying to turn on the charm with a little flirting. "You wouldn't turn in little old me right? After all, we are friends."

Atomic Skull leaned in until he was face to skull with Doctor Light and practically snarled. "Where Zoom's concerned, I can do without a friend like you, especially since you won't be alive much longer," he growls while grabbing her arm.

Doctor Light shook him off and pushed him back. "You're not taking me anywhere," she said getting her hand up.

Atomic Skull threw a punch which Doctor Light ducked under and shoved her hands against his torso, pushing him again, but this time added some of her powers to the shove, sending him back a few feet. Atomic Skull fired a green flame at her, which despite Doctor Light's use of her own powers to shield her, knocked her back several feet and to the ground. She could feel her head spinning from the fall and tried to shake it off, but she'd hit harder than she thought. I'm out of practice, she thought as she struggled to sit up.

"Gotcha," Atomic Skull celebrated. His cackle echoed down the empty street. He closed in, this time slowly, like a predator does when his prey's wounded and he knows he can take his time. "You've gone soft, Doc," he told her as he moved in until he was practically standing over her. "Living here, with these _sheep,_ sucked the killer instinct right out of you, made you even more useless."

Atomic Skull brought his hands up, a ball of flame forming between them, growing as he fed more into it. He lifted the fireball into the air, prepared to drop it when an explosion from behind him stole his attention. Doctor Light didn't know if the explosion was another meta causing their own damage, or just something being set off from Atomic Skull's damage, or, unbeknownst to her, a gas line rupturing and meeting with an electrical spark, but she took the distraction and used it for own.

While still on the ground, she brought both her hands up and forced them to begin glowing. She could feel the power she was sending into them building as she fed it into them. "Hey, Joe," she shouted to get his attention. Once he turned back to her, she spread her arms out and sent a cascade of light around them that could be seen for a few blocks. The force of the blast knocked Atomic Skull off his feet and Doctor Light kept watching him, looking for movement. There was none.

She pulled herself off the ground and slowly staggered her way toward him, her hands still readied to blast him again if need be. As much as she hated knowing that he'd turn her in if he survived, she still hoped he was alive. I don't need another body on me, she thought. She let out a breath of relief when she saw his chest rising and falling. Still alive, good, she mused. She kicked him in the ribs, hoping it didn't wake him, but feeling he deserved it.

"I don't have a killer instinct, Joe, because I'm not a killer."

She looked around, making sure no one saw her, hoping that he'd done too good a job of scaring everybody inside. When she was as certain as she could be that no one was witnessing this, she pulled her hood back up and kept walking back to her shoebox she called an apartment. Someone will find him eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

"So with the initial wave over, the CCPD is informing us that they are steadily gaining control of the situation, and are in the process of trying to round up the small army of metahumans terrorizing our city," the reporter on the TV said about the events taking place tonight.

"As opposed to what, letting them run wild?" Clara Patton said as she watched the unfolding coverage on TV. She was sitting on her couch, enjoying the relative calm now that her kids, 4 year old Katie, and 11 month old Jack, were now both asleep. Taking care of two kids was hard enough, but add in a cadre of metahumans hell-bent on destroying the place, and tonight it felt damn near impossible. Luckily, Jack was way too young to understand anything going on, so she only had Katie to keep calm.

Thank God for coloring books and the Disney Channel, she thought. Now she was trying to wind down, relaxing as she heard that the police and the Flash were finally getting all those freaks under control. She took a pull at her beer when she heard a knocking at her door. She got up and looked through the peephole, becoming nervous at the sight of the redhead on the other side.

"Can I help you?" she asked apprehensively as though the gap in the door caused by the security latch her husband put in for when he was gone.

"I live the down the hall," Doctor Light told Clara. She then held up a travelling mug and waved it in front of her. "I'm out of milk, think you could spare some?"

"Milk?" Clara asked, weirded out by the seemingly simple demand.

"Yeah, cold, white liquid, usually comes in a carton or gallon. I hear a baby crying in here every now and then; I figure if you have a baby, you've got milk, and I'm out of _everything_ , except half a box of cereal."

"You're out of food?" Clara asked.

"No, I have half a box of cereal," Doctor Light answered glibly. "I'm going after work tomorrow to the grocery store, but that cereal should tide me over tonight. I just need some milk, please," she finished.

Normally Clara wouldn't open the door to someone she didn't know, neighbor or not, but the motherly instincts in her kicked in at the sound of this woman saying she had no food. She shut the door, undid the latch, and then let her in.

"Thanks," Doctor Light said as she handed Clara the mug.

"No problem. I'm Clara by the way," Clara introduced herself as she walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the gallon of milk.

"Kim," Doctor Light said.

"So I guess you decided to stay in to instead of braving it out there tonight, huh?" Clara asked from the kitchen.

"Um, yeah," Doctor Light answered as she looked at the pictures on the wall. Clara didn't look too much older than her, so she was surprised to see that she had two kids so far apart in age. "Those people out there are really causing some havoc," she added as she thought back to her encounter with Atomic Skull just a few hours earlier.

"I tell you, if wasn't for the Flash, I swear, I'd be the type of person saying we need to just get rid of all those metas. But if the Flash is so good, then maybe they're not all bad. What do you think?"

"I think, uhn," Doctor Light started, only to stop when her head started throbbing. She shook it off, but it didn't dissipate. "I think…oh God," she gasped as the throbbing turned to pounding.

"You okay, Kim?" Clara asked, turning around from the refrigerator as she was returning the milk. "Kim?"

What Clara saw was Kim grabbing the sides of her head as she doubled over in what looked to be excruciating pain. She was gasping like she couldn't breathe and her face telegraphed how badly it looked like she wanted to scream.

"Oh my God," Clara gasped as she sped over to where Doctor Light was standing. When she reached her Doctor Light had already begun screaming, the pain finally knocking her down to her knees and eventually completely onto the floor. "Kim, are you okay?" Clara asked in horror as she watched her neighbor begin to writhe.

"Oh God…it hurts. Make it stop, make it…ahhhhh!" Doctor Light groaned until, finally at the end she let out a last, gut wrenching scream and finally passed out.

"Oh God, Kim. Kim!" Clara screamed, lightly slapping Doctor Light's cheek in an effort to wake her. When she didn't respond, she dashed toward the coffee table in front of her couch and grabbed her cell phone. She dialed 911 and counted out the rings, praying that whatever happened wasn't as life and death as it felt and that Kim would be okay.

* * *

When Doctor Light came to, she didn't know where she was. It was bright, and that was about all she knew. She brought up her hands to shield her eyes and actually wondered for half a second if the pain in her head had killed her and the reason that this place was so bright was because it was Heaven.

Yeah right, she thought, like they'd take me.

Eventually, her eyes got used to the brightness and she was able to look around. She was in a hospital. From the sounds on the other side of the privacy curtain which, was pulled over her area, it was a busy night.

"What the…?"

"Oh good, you're awake," came a voice from close by. She turned and saw the last face she expected to. "Remember me? You killed my boss and tried to kill me."

"Hey Linda."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Linda," Doctor Light said, some apprehension in her voice as she saw Linda sitting in the chair next to her bed. "How'd you know I was here?"

Linda just let her lips curl slightly.

* * *

 _Two hours earlier…_

Linda was watching on the news the reports of the Flash and the CCPD getting things under control from her desk at Central City Picture News. She was feeling better about the whole situation, mostly like the world wasn't going to come to an end. Though if she were honest with herself, she was partly bummed about not being able to help.

Then again, Iris wasn't _totally_ wrong, she thought. As tough as those gloves would've made me, I probably would've lasted all of five minutes out there, and that's if I was lucky.

"Hey, Park, answer your phone," she heard one of the other reporters shout at her. She looked down at her desk and realized that she'd been so focused on the footage on TV that she hadn't heard her phone. She grabbed it quickly when she saw Iris's picture on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Linda are you okay?" came Iris's voice, the terror in it making Linda nervous.

"Yeah, why?"

"My Dad just got a call from one of the injured officers over Central City Memorial. He said he saw you on one of the beds unconscious."

"Are you sure he didn't just see someone who looked like me? Or that the cop wasn't high from pain killers?" Linda asked confused.

"The guy was pretty certain," Iris told her. "He knows that I know you, so he called my Dad, who called me."

Linda was shaking her head, not that Iris could see it. "Well he was probably just seeing things; I've been at CCPN all night watching the fallout."

"Well alright, I just wanted to make sure you didn't make good on your word to try and get here so you could help."

"Don't worry, I came to my senses, no heroics for me," she joked.

"Good, I don't need another person to worry about right now. Later," Iris said as she hung up.

Linda put down her phone and thought about the conversation. Why would they think _I_ was the one at the hospital, she thought. Being recognized came somewhat natural to her since she still had people who remembered her being a TV reporter before coming to work at CCPN. It's a mistake, she thought. Just someone who looks like me.

Then she looked back at one of the TVs and remembered that most of Zoom's army was from Earth-2. Just like…

"Oh my God," she gasped. "It couldn't be, could it?" she asked herself. She began to gather her things and pulled her purse onto her shoulder. Before anyone could stop her, Linda was rushing out the door and to her car.

* * *

"And they just let you back here?" Doctor Light asked.

"I told the guy up front my twin was brought in, even I couldn't believe he just opened the door without asking for some ID, or even a name," Linda said in genuine amazement.

"Honest people believe that everyone else is honest at a basic level," Doctor Light informed her. "So they're more trusting than they should be."

"Is that how you've stayed hidden so long?"

Doctor Light didn't want to answer. Not because Linda was correct, which she was to a degree, but because she didn't want to start answering more questions. Luckily, the hospital once again saved her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt," came the voice of a hospital employee who had pulled open the curtain. Linda and Doctor Light looked over and saw a guy who looked to be in his late twenties. Both of them could tell that he wasn't a nurse or doctor since he didn't have on scrubs or a lab coat. "Hi, my name's Jeff, I'm from admitting, just need to get some information from you."

"I'm being admitted?" Doctor Light asked concerned.

"No", Jeff shook his head. "But you were unconscious when you were brought in, so all we have is your first name. So let's start with…last name?"

"Hoshi."

Linda looked over at Doctor Light, a wide-eyed expression on her face.

"Okay," Jeff said writing it down. "And do you have insurance?"

"Yeah, but I don't have the card. I was at a neighbor's place so…oh wait, I was here a couple months of ago for a work injury, could you look it up?"

"Yeah, just go ahead and write down your social right here so we can look you up in the system," Jeff said as he handed Doctor Light the clipboard he was carrying. Once Doctor Light handed back the clipboard, he looked between both girls. "Twins?" he asked, trying to make it sound playful.

"No, she can't stand me actually," Doctor Light answered sarcastically while pointing at Linda.

Jeff chuckled and left.

"You've been busy," Linda told her once she was sure Jeff was out of earshot. Doctor Light looked at her askance. "New name – Hoshi?"

"What? We're Asian. It has a nice ring with 'Kim'. And no one would ever suspect _that name_ to ever become an alias."

"What about the social?"

"Earth-1 and Earth-2 aren't that different when it comes to coming up with a new identity. You just have to know what you're doing," Doctor Light told her. "And I do."

"But for me, the most shocking thing seems to be, well…you have insurance?" Linda asked in complete disbelief. Doctor Light nodded. "How?"

"From work," she answered matter-of-factly.

"You have a job?"

"Yeah, how do you make money?" Doctor Light asked glibly.

"What do you do?" Linda asked in a surly tone. Then, just before Doctor Light could answer, Linda's eyes widened. "You've got my face; oh God, please don't tell me you're a stripper."

Doctor Light smiled evilly. "My stage name's Cinnamon," she said twirling her red hair around her finger. Linda's eyes widened even further and her mouth joined them, a small gasp escaping it. Doctor Light immediately began laughing. "Relax, I'm not a stripper. That's too much risk of someone remembering your face."

"So then...?"

"I'm a housekeeper in a hotel."

"Seriously?"

Doctor Light let out an exasperated sigh. "I need to keep a low profile, and nobody pays attention to the maid."

"Probably makes it easier to steal too, doesn't it?" Doctor Light looked at Linda, not knowing whether to get angry or not. "I know you're a thief along with a murderer."

"I am _not_ a murderer," Doctor Light said in a restrained whisper.

"My boss might have something to say about that," Linda fired back. "If not him, that hole you left in his chest definitely speaks volumes." Doctor Light closed her eyes and laid her head back. "Savoring the memory?"

"Screw you, you self-righteous bitch," Doctor Light said without opening her eyes. "You know what, I'm done here," she said, sitting up and climbing off the bed. Once she stood up she immediately felt herself become lightheaded and unbalanced. She felt her legs buckle from under her and caught herself on the hospital bed before she fell completely.

Almost immediately Linda was over to that side of the bed. She looped one of Doctor Light's arms around herself and held her steady. "Okay, step back slowly, get back on the bed," she told her as she helped her back on. "Can't have you passing out for the police." Doctor Light immediately tried to get back up, only to be forced back down by Linda. "Stop alright, you're obviously still feeling whatever it was The Flash did."

" _He_ did this to me?"

"Well, not intentionally to you specifically," Linda told her as she sat back down in her chair. "He and the people at S.T.A.R. Labs did some things using sound frequencies or something, I'm not totally sure, it was a little above my head, but it was supposed to knock out people from Earth-2 – like you. Was it painful?" Linda asked, a small smirk on her face, hoping that Doctor Light was forced to feel something for once.

"Like hell, which scares me that you would be smiling over that," Doctor Light told her in repressed anger. "Heartless isn't a good color on you."

Linda felt her lip twitch at that statement. It hit her harder than she thought to hear a murderer call her heartless. "You would know."

"Would you stop calling me names."

"It's not name calling when it's true. You did kill someone while trying to kill me."

"Your boss was an accident," Doctor Light defended herself. "You? Killing you was best plan I could come up at the time. It was a horrible plan since I didn't actually know if I could go through with it. Killing someone never came as easily to me as it did to some of my… _friends_ ," she explained, her voice going a tad too weepy for Linda. "All I could think about was getting away from Zoom. I was desperate, kind of like right now."

"So what, you just want me to forget what you did? Let you leave and walk around without some kind of punishment?"

"Punishment doesn't always have to mean prison, or that tube thing the Flash had me in," she responded, once again laying her head back and closing her eyes.

Linda was having a great deal of trouble keeping up her angry veneer. The more she listened to Doctor Light, the more she was finding it hard to ignore the pain in her voice. And not just pain from what the Flash had done. Genuine emotion. Linda had spent the last six months convincing herself that her Earth-2 counterpart was just a bloodthirsty criminal. The last half hour had prover that harder to keep up.

"Did you even know his name?" Linda asked harshly. Doctor Light stayed quiet. "I didn't think so. And yet you want me to just let you walk -"

"Eric," Doctor Light interrupted her.

"What did you say?" Linda asked, her voice softer, not trusting what she'd just heard.

Doctor Light opened her eyes and turned to look at Linda. Her face looked somewhere between scared and traumatized. "Eric. His name was Eric. Eric Larkin."

Linda sat quiet. The fire that she had been using to start her tirade was gone, and she found herself without anything to say. Truthfully, she wasn't prepared for Doctor Light to have a response.

"Born, 1951. Died…2015," she continued, her voice sounding hurt. "His wife's name was Anna. He had two kids…five grandkids." Linda was shocked to see that Doctor Light's eyes had watered.

"Don't say I don't care. And don't you dare say I don't feel anything. I can't get that night out of my head. When I got away from the Flash, I spent half a day puking my guts out over what I did. And every day since, I've had the look on his face right before he…," she continued, her eyes filing with tears to the point that they started falling down her face. She swallowed back a sob and continued, this time her voice wavering. "The look he had in his eyes that said he knew he was going to die…I've seen that look in my mind every day since that night. I have nightmares over it," she cried, the emotion almost becoming too much.

"I'm not gonna lay here and try to convince you that I was a good person, cause I wasn't. I lied, cheated…stole. But I'd never killed before that night. I actually have days where I hate myself for killing him, and wish that I could just take it back." Doctor Light looked at Linda and was surprised to see that Linda was crying herself.


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you guys think it's possible for a bad guy to change?" Linda asked Team Flash as she met with them at S.T.A.R. Labs. It had been about a week since the Metapacolypse and the defeat of Zoom and things had more or less calmed down. The city was slowly getting back to normal, people were starting to believe that they were safe again from a man who looked like a monster with demonic claws straight from their nightmares leading an army ready to tear everything down.

Linda came to S.T.A.R. Labs looking for some clarity into a decision she'd made. Against her better judgment, she let Doctor Light go. After their conversation, for reasons she still couldn't explain, she couldn't bring herself to turn her doppelganger in. Instead, she helped her home and put her to bed. She surprised herself by actually checking up on her the next day, even going as far as picking up her meds.

And every day since she's wondered if she did the right thing.

A part of her did believe Doctor Light when she said that she was sorry. That she was remorseful. But another part still screamed at her that this woman was ready to try and kill her. That if it hadn't been for Iris, who knows if she would've been able to go through with it.

Now she found herself asking heroes if a conversion was really possible.

"It's not totally unheard of," Caitlin answered as she and Iris moved down the pipeline, bringing the metas being held there lunch.

"Name one," Linda said, genuinely curious to find out if Caitlin wasn't just trying to give her hope, false or otherwise.

"Well, Captain Cold is the best example that comes to mind," she answered coolly.

"The guy who liked to freeze stuff?" Linda asked.

Caitlin nodded.

"He nearly killed Barry along with that guy with the heat gun in that fight downtown a few years ago," Iris interjected.

"That would be Heat Wave," Caitlin informed them. "And I didn't say he didn't have history with Barry, but he did kind of make a turn the last year."

"I should mention he broke into my Dad's house at Christmas, and killed his own father before that."

And _this_ is the guy Caitlin wanted to use as an example of someone who changed his ways, Linda thought, he's worse than Doctor Light. Linda started thinking that maybe she was wrong. That maybe she should've called the police.

"True, but he broke into your father's house to give Barry a warning about Trickster and Weather Wizard," Caitlin pointed out. As they came to entrance way of the pipeline.

Linda found it almost humorous to see Caitlin pushing a food cart loaded with every type of fast food and ethnic food you could think of. She hadn't asked, but she was now certain that some of the metas from last week's attack were probably being housed here.

"So he has one good deed to his name," Iris conceded.

"Technically…it's more like four that I could name off the top of my head.

Iris and Linda looked at S.T.A.R. Labs' resident lead scientist, at least lead in Linda's opinion since the other Harrison Wells went back home, with confusion. "Let me feed the inmates and then I'll explain."

* * *

A little under an hour later and all three women had left .R. Labs, Caitlin deciding that if Linda wanted to know about a villain's conversion, it might best to do it away from a prison setting. She wanted to make sure that her story had every chance of being impactful, and she didn't think that having a cadre of imprisoned metas within striking distance would help that.

So now all three of them were sitting in Jitters, having their own lunch while Caitlin tried to make a case for Captain Cold changing just enough to be allowed to roam free.

"Snart, I'm not calling him Captain Cold," she began as she took a drink, "is not the nicest person you'll ever meet. But recently, he hasn't been the worst. Last year, he forced Cisco to tell him Barry's identity. You would think he'd out Barry to the world, make it harder for him to do his job, but he kept the info; yes at the time for his own ends, but he kept it. A while later, when Reverse-Flash set the pipeline to blow and we had to move the metas in there, Snart was who we went to for help. Imagine our surprise when he brings along his sister, and we find out he kept his word about not telling anyone because Lisa Snart has absolutely no clue who Barry is."

"Wait a minute," Linda interrupted her. "Captain Cold promised not to tell, and honored his word?"

Caitlin nodded.

"Annoyed Lisa to no end. He likes to think of himself as an honorable villain."

"Who killed his own father," Iris pointed out, latching on to the fact that he did kill someone in cold blood, no pun intended.

Caitlin took a deep breath and took another drink. "I'm not going to say he didn't do that, or that it wasn't wrong, because it was. He should've let Barry hand him over to your Dad, but…I understand. His father planted a bomb inside Lisa, his own daughter, and once again, Snart's sister. It was located in her neck and had enough power to blow her head clean off any time he chose to. He did that because he knew that Snart loved Lisa more than anyone else in the world, and it would force Snart to work for him."

"Do as I say or your sister dies?" Linda asked. Caitlin nodded.

"His own daughter?" Iris asked.

"Daddy Snart was not a nice man, at least that's what the scar he left on Lisa when she was a kid told us. Cisco got the bomb out, and once Barry let Snart know she was safe, he…"

"Iced him?" Linda asked.

"Icicle straight through the heart. And surprisingly, it had nothing to do with forcing him to work for him, but everything to with the fact that he hurt Lisa. He said he hated the man for breaking her heart."

"So what, killing his Dad gave him some kind of epiphany?" Linda asked.

Caitlin shrugged. "I don't know if he felt remorse, or nothing at all, but Barry felt that if Snart could have something in his life that he protected because it was dear to him, then he couldn't be all bad. After all, being able to feel something for someone else means you have to care, and if you care, there's always hope."

* * *

 _The next day…_

Linda parked her car outside of Doctor Light's building, making sure anything valuable was out of sight before getting out. She might have been here before, but she still wasn't comfortable with being in such a bad part of town. Once she was sure her car would be okay, she got out, set the alarm, and made her way in.

She groaned as she climbed the stairs, cursing that elevator was out of order. Once she was on the third floor, she made her way to Doctor Light's door at the end of the hall and stared knocking.

No answer.

She said she had the day off, Linda thought to herself, as she knocked again, realizing that Doctor Light probably wasn't home. As she considered what to do next, she came to realize that she had absolutely no clue where to even begin a search for her. Aside from what she learned about her at the hospital, Linda didn't really know anything about Doctor Light; her habits, her hobbies, whether or not she had friends…a boyfriend.

"Don't tell me you locked yourself out?"

Linda turned in the direction of the voice and saw a slightly overweight, nearly bald man walking toward her in a dirty flannel shirt and stained khakis. She figured him for the building super from the tool belt that barely fit around his waist. "Um…yeah, silly me," she said, hoping her confusion would be mistaken for embarrassment.

"You're lucky you need that shower fixed," he told her as he pulled a ring of keys from his tool belt and started looking for the correct one. Once he found it he unlocked the door and held the door open for Linda. "Otherwise, you'd have been out her for a while once I'd left."

"Lucky me, definitely," she said walking in.

Once inside, the super made his way directly to the bathroom, while Linda began looking around. It was something she didn't really do the last time she was here, well, not closely. She had walked the place, noticing the furniture being a mixture of thrift store and department store fare, the newer stuff probably bought after she'd saved enough through work. There were still dirty dishes in the sink then, just like there were now. A plant that looked like it needed watering.

She wandered into Doctor Light's bedroom, noticing the simple double bed - unmade. There was a dresser with a few pictures trapped to it. Linda figured they were friends from work. So she _has_ friends, Linda thought. She also saw what looked like a simple looking jewelry box. The jewelry inside however, that looked anything but simple, or inexpensive. But what drew Linda's attention was the date book laying next to the box.

The fact that Doctor Light would have a date book was surprising enough, but it was the entry written on today's date that caused her since intrigue.

 _St. Nicholas Cemetery. Pick up flowers._

She wouldn't, would she, Linda thought. She knew Doctor Light didn't have a car, so she hoped that she could catch her if she hurried. She'd made it all the way downstairs, a little out of breath after almost running down them, and was almost out of the building when she heard a voice calling out to her.

"Running out to stop another bad guy?"

She stopped at the base of the stairs and looked around. She saw a wispy little girl who looked no more than nine or ten with long black hair and thick-rimmed cat eye glasses sitting in the small alcove between the stairs and the wall. She had on a pair of earbuds connected to a tablet. Linda tried not to smile as she noticed the Flash T-shirt and Flash painted Chucks she was wearing.

"Who? Me?"

"Unless you know someone else who stops guys whose heads are on fire by blasting them with a seriously cool light show," she answered back, laying her tablet on her lap and grabbing a Big Belly Burger cup that was sitting next to her. She took a large drink, the sound of the straw sucking in air carrying over to Linda. "So? Are you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The night all those evil metas were laying a beat down on the city. While the Flash was beating on them right back, you were outside kicking some ass of your own," the girl said with an excited tone and a massive fangirl smile. "So are you running out there to battle another one? What kind of powers do you have? What's your superhero name? Why don't you wear a mask? Are you friends with the Flash?"

"Whoa, calm down," Linda told her, a small smile gracing her lips. "She…I mean _I_ don't usually do things like that, but uh…"

"He started the fight, I know, I was watching."

"From where?"

"I live on the second floor," she said while pointing upstairs. She then grabbed her tablet and began tapping the screen. "I was looking out my widow, hoping to see the Flash when I heard voices on the street I looked down, saw some dude on fire, so I grabbed my tablet, and…got this," she finished, holding the tablet out.

Linda walked over and grabbed the tablet from the girl. It had been queued to a video file. She pressed play and saw someone whose head was actually on fire. He was approaching someone wearing a hoodie. The woman turned around, and it looked like there having a conversation. Suddenly, the woman pushed against the meta. The meta threw punch that was missed followed by a second push from the woman that was accompanied by a flash of bright light. A ball of green fire got thrown and, now Lind could identify her as Doctor Light, fell backwards.

The crazed meta came and stood over Doctor Light, and, if it hadn't been for something distracting him, he would've killed her. Instead, Doctor Light used the distraction to defend herself by using a glowing showcase of bright white light similar to what she used at Central City Picture News. the fight was over then, the evil meta on the ground not movie, and Doctor Light left standing.

"You looked awesome," the little girl said.

She actually stopped one, Linda thought. And this little girl is right, it did look pretty awesome. "What's your name, honey?"

"Dani."

"Nice name," Linda told her as she handed the tablet back and began walking back toward the door. "Hey, you never told me your name," Dani yelled at her. Linda smiled.

* * *

Linda made it to Saint Nicholas Cemetery and drove around it's grounds looking to see if she could see Doctor Light. When she didn't she began to think maybe she'd missed her. Damn it, she thought.

She was about to drive out and go back to Doctor Light's building when she happened to glance across the street. A city bus was pulling away from the curb and standing there, a small bouquet of flowers in hand and waiting for traffic to clear so she could cross was Doctor Light. Before she could be seen, Linda pulled over and parked, and then reclined the seat back in case she walked by.

Upon entering the cemetery, Doctor Light walked in the direction away from Linda's car. Linda waited a few seconds before getting out and following. She stayed back as far as she could so Doctor Light would feel like she was being tailed, but where she's could still her. As she walked she began taking notice of some landmarks.

The side by side memorial benches on her left where an elderly couple was buried. The Virgin Mary statue about ten feet later on her right. Oh my God, Linda said to herself. Is she really going to…

Then she saw the weeping angel statue about thirty feet later and stopped in her tracks. She didn't need to follow any further, she had a fairly good idea where Doctor Light was going. Instead, she ducked behind a tree and watched as the presumably reformed villain walked over to the statue.

* * *

Doctor Light was standing before the weeping angel statue that marked where Eric Larkin had been buried. She looked down at the inscription on the base stone, not the name and dates, but the quote that had been chosen.

" _The goal isn't to live forever. The goal is to create something that will." – Chuck Palahniuk_

"You left a family. Friends. People that cared about you. They all probably came to see you off. They were probably sad. They were probably crying. They shouldn't have been," she said as she tried to keep herself from crying, but failing, like she did every week. "Because you shouldn't be dead. You should still be here, retired by now, spending time with everyone you were close to."

She paused, taking a second to wipe her eyes with her sleeve. She choked out a sob and finally knelt down.

"You're here, because _I_ didn't wanna die. But I was so scared. I had a monster after me, and I…I thought if I could just disappear, that I would be okay. But I just made myself into something almost as bad as what was gonna hunt me."

She laid the small bouquet of white tulips that she brought with her at the statue's base. She fell from a kneeling position to her knees, one hand spread out over the ground. The tears began flowing like the floodgates had been thrown open and she began to cry without shame.

"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."

* * *

Linda wiped away a small tear that had formed as she watched Doctor Light practically sobbing at the grave of her former boss. Her back was to the tree, so she couldn't see her walking back. Doctor Light never saw Linda either, as her head was pointed at the ground. When she saw her pass, she almost considered letting her walk away, but she needed to speak to her again.

"Kim," she shouted, surprised that she used Doctor Light's assumed name.

Doctor Light turned and saw Linda coming at her. Oh great, she thought. "What do want Linda?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Paying my respects," Doctor Light said in a flat tone.

"To Eric's grave?" Doctor Light nodded. "Why?"

Doctor Light turned away from Linda for a second and tried not to start tearing up again. "I just…I just want to say I'm sorry. So I come here every Saturday, day off or not, and hope that…I don't know, maybe I can feel better than I did the week before."

"And do you?"

"Sometimes. Other times, I think it should be me in that grave."

Linda didn't know what came over her, but for some reason, the next thing she knew, her arms were wrapped around Doctor Light's shoulders, and she was hugging her close. She could hear Doctor Light crying into her shoulder, and checked to see if any passersby were watching. Then again, we are in a cemetery, she thought, this does not look out of place.

"Come on, I'm taking you home."

Once in Linda's car, Doctor Light just laid her head back against the headrest, staring blankly out the window. She didn't pay attention to anything, just letting the breeze from the rolled down window hit her.

"Do you know a girl named Dani in your building?" Linda asked in an attempt to break the silence. Doctor Light just looked at her, not saying anything. "She looks around ten, really thin, black hair, thick glasses?"

"I, I've seen her, don't know her name."

"Well, she thought I was you. And showed me something very interesting, a video she took of a certain reformed criminal, fighting off an invading Earth-w2 meta."

"His name's Joe, likes to be called Atomic Skull."

"And you took him out, protected everyone in that building of yours."

Doctor Light shook her head. "He was gonna rat me out. I had to stop him."

"That might be what happened, in _your_ head, but to that little girl, you were a hero. You should've seen her face when she thought I – you – were going out to stop more criminals. She looked like she was staring at the greatest person in the world."

"Kids are…"

"If you say anything mean bout her, I'm gonna smack you," Linda threatened. "You're walking around, looking for forgiveness, thinking you're nothing but a murderer. But I met someone today who thinks you're something more, a hero. One that I guarantee she'd look up to."

"I'm no hero. I'm no role model," Doctor Light said.

She kept a straight face the rest of the way, not speaking another word to Linda, but inside she was an emotional wreck. She felt like she didn't deserve to live. But a small part of her was beaming at the thought of someone thinking she was worth something, even if it was a little girl. Once she got home, Linda dropped her off and pleaded with her to call her when she felt better. Doctor Light nodded and went inside, no intention of calling even crossing her mind.

As she was walking up to her floor, a kid bumped into her on the way down. "Watch it," she scolded.

"Sorry, Doc," she heard.

She turned and looked down at the stairs, seeing a little girl with black hair and thick glasses running down them. The girl stopped and looked at Doctor Light, her brown eyes shining at the sight of her new hero. "Hope you caught some bad guys while you were out."

Doctor Light didn't get a chance to respond since Dani began running back down again. She wasted no more time getting to her apartment, leaning against the inside of her door, crying once again, this time feeling a genuine catharsis that she hadn't felt, well…ever. She immediate fished out her phone and sent a text to Linda.

 _I'm gonna be okay. Thank you._

The End.


End file.
